Chapter 13:

“Doctor Jung, there is a police officer here who wants to talk to you.” A woman in her twenties with her hair in a tight bun entered the bright beige crème coloured office.

Jung Yunho looked up from his report and took of his glasses. His expression as unreadable as ever. His secretary however was already long accustomed to him and continued without being asked so.

“He said it doesn’t take long.”

“Alright send him in.” He rubbed his tired eyes with a long sigh.

“Yes, Sir.” She gave him a sympathetic smile. “I’ll also inform him that he should call first before coming over or else he might delay our patients’ consultations.”

“Thanks.” He gave her a grateful smile. As expected Doctor Jung wasn’t as cold as he made it seem like.

She disappeared again just to be shortly after arriving with a man through the door. She bowed and left the two men in the room.

Yunho got up with a friendly smiling face which he only had when patients were in his presence and shook the man’s hand.

“Hello, I’m Doctor Jung Yunho. Please sit down.” He monitored the older man to sit on the chair opposite his desk.

“Nice to meet you. I’m officer Lee Joowoon. I don’t want to disturb you for too long, Doctor. You’re certainly busy, I only came to ask some questions.”

“I’m not sure of what help I can be of. But please go ahead.”

“You work here and in the SNU hospital, right?”

“Yes, indeed.” Yunho continued to smile, eyeing the man in front of him.

“Do you perhaps work somewhere else too? Like after your shift at the hospital...”

“I’m also a private family doctor. With that, I’m quite busy that’s why I only work part-time here and in the SNU Hospital.” Yunho explained, waiting for the police officer to finally come straight to the point instead of small-talking.

“Which family do you work for?” He asked the tone of his voice slightly gaining some interest which Yunho was able to notice immediately.

He smiled apologetic. “I’m sorry I can’t reveal personal information of my patients. I have an obligation to confidentiality.”

“Oh, of course. How silly of me! My curiosity just took over and it slipped my mouth!” He laughed before turning serious again.

“These days there have been fake documents going around. It seems like some people are using your name to fake prescriptions and certificates.” He stared intently at Yunho. “It’s not only a particular case, it’s on a bigger scale.”

Yunho’s expression remained neutral as he raised his eyebrows. “This is the first time, I’m hearing about this. I’m well familiar with pharmacists and I didn’t get any particular notifications of an increase of my patients as their customers. Neither did I get calls for a check-up on my certificates. So, I doubt that something like this is true. Could there maybe be a mix-up?”

The man nodded deep in thoughts.

“Possibly.” He broke into a laugh again which Yunho joined out of courtesy. “Well then.”

He got up and went to the door, followed by Yunho. They shook hands but instead of letting go the officer spoke up again.

“I only have one last question before I’m finished. Do you perhaps know a person called Kang Seungyoon?”

The man observed the doctor’s reaction. To his disappointment, Yunho didn’t show any suspicious behaviour.

“I’m sorry, Sir. Again, I can neither confirm nor deny this question.”

With that the man nodded with a polite smile and left the office.

“The officer left.” His secretary’s voice came through the small loudspeaker on his desk.

Yunho closed the door and returned to the chair the other man was sitting on. He turned it around, searching for something. After nothing was found, he expanded his search to his desk and the floor.

Nothing.

Yunho sank into his black leather chair with a sigh.

He opened the top drawer of his bureau and took out his cell phone. He dialled a number and waited for the person to pick up.

“Yunho.” A familiar voice greeted him.

“Yoochun, someone just paid me a visit.” He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

The line fell silent and Yunho knew he was waiting for him to continue.

“I’ll come over this evening. In the mean time, check a police officer called Lee Joowoon.”

“Did he ask questions?”

“No but he was suspicious enough.” The doctor answered.

“Alright, see you tonight.”

Yoochun wanted to hang up when Yunho didn’t answer him anymore but before he could, Yunho’s quiet voice reached his ears.

“Did you already do a background check on that Seungyoon boy?”

With serious determination even the heaviest workload will be finished in no time.

About three weeks of Spartan discipline and billions of sighs later, Sora and Seungyoon could finally say what they wanted to say for such a long time.

Finished! They were finally finished!

And this joyous occasion needed a rightful celebration, well after Sora it certainly should.

And how do you celebrate it better than with a movie night with friends on a Friday evening?

That’s how Seungyoon ended up in front of Sora’s front door, after following her invitation which was more of an order, on that particular late Friday afternoon.

“Are you ready for a night of sweet popcorn and bloody shootings?” Sora yelled as she swung the door open.

“Yay.” Seungyoon raised his arms, the plastic bag on his wrist slipping down to his elbow.

“Come in, Come in.” Sora ushered him inside the house.

Seungyoon was already familiar with the interior of her house, he was there once but even so it didn’t prevent his jaw from dropping.

This time he had more time to appreciate everything in that entrance hall.

The floor was made of white tiles, the walls were of a rather intensive cream colour, and the white ornate ceiling had a chandelier made out of many colourful crystal pieces. However the light which was distributed in the hall was warm and yellowish-white.

There was a wooden closet of almost the same length as the wall on his right which Seungyoon suspected to be a shoe rack. However there were still some shoes lying around on the small part of black decayed granite which drew a clear line to the opposite white tiles of the entrance hall. A mix of different types of shoes: dirty neon sneakers, a pair of polished dark brown Italian leather shoes, old worn-out white sport shoes, again a same pair of Italian leather shoes but this time in black and a pair of dark navy boots.

A mix of classic and modern style, just like the interior of the house.

Seungyoon spotted two big white vases with blue ornaments on each side of him as he made his first step on the tilted floor.

There were beautiful drawings of flowers and patterns; they looked a bit like those rare Ming vases.

A mix of red and white roses was in them.

“Beautiful, aren’t they?” Sora grinned as she stood next to him.

Seungyoon nodded when he lifted his gaze to her face. “The last time, there were only white roses but this looks better. More colours.”

Sora’s smile froze as she stared at Seungyoon.

Perceptive.

“Well, Brother only buys white roses when it’s his turn.” She shrugged her shoulders before turning towards the kitchen. “Let’s go.”

Seungyoon felt – despite it being quite weird – that there was more to that story which Sora just quickly brushed off. He wanted to know more about it.

Why white roses? Why only roses and not any other flowers?

Seungyoon followed her inside.

The infamous breakfast table which Seungyoon remembered quite well, was filled with various bags of chips and sweets, empty bowls and bottles over bottles of soft drinks.

“You’re the first and just right to help me finish with the preparations.” She grinned as she pointed towards the bowls. “The fate of the first arrivals! Fill up the bowls!” 

Seungyoon glanced at his watch. He wasn’t that early, in fact he was even some minutes late to the appointed time. He thought he’d be the last one to arrive.

“The others are probably outside just around the corner, waiting for us to finish everything before they crash in.” Sora laughed. “Yes, they are that calculating!”

“Lazy bums...” Seungyoon huffed under his breath as he opened the first bag of chips.

He only got Sora’s delighted laughter as a response.

Seungyoon was at his third bag of chips when the bell rung.

Sora ran towards the door, followed by an awkward Seungyoon who froze at the doorway of the kitchen. The sight in front of him made his body tense out of reflex.

Jaejoong stood there, in the middle of the entrance hall, his body facing the door which Sora just pulled open.

“Hey!” She squealed as she was pulled in a quick hug from Taehyun.

“Hi!” He grinned at her and proceeded to take off his shoes.

Upon spotting Jaejoong, he bowed deeply, a smile on his face.

“Good evening, Sir.”

Seungyoon’s eyes widened in surprise when Jaejoong did something he never expected him to do.

He nodded and said: “Welcome, Taehyun.”

Seungyoon’s jaw dropped at that not friendly but acceptable gesture of the man who only had dirty glares for him.

Jaejoong turned around to go back upstairs when he spotted Seungyoon at the doorway.

Immediately deep frowns and an angry almost aggressive look crossed his face.

Jaejoong made his way upstairs, non-chalantly as if that moment just didn’t happen.

He ignored me... Am I not a guest here as well? Why does he like Taehyun more than me?

Seungyoon stared unbelievably at Jaejoong’s retreating figure when Taehyun’s light pat on his shoulder brought his focus back to the group.

“You guys finished? I came at the right time then!”

Taehyun’s sassy comment earned him a punch on his arm from Sora who shoved two more bags of sweets into his direction.

“Your turn now, open!” She pouted while retreating behind the kitchen counter. “And you can text the others now! No more preparations left!”

“That’s what I wanted to hear!” Taehyun grinned, his phone already in his hands.

Sora huffed while rolling her eyes and Seungyoon swore he heard her mutter something along the lines of ‘spy’ under her breath.

A moment later, the rest of the group arrived, unsurprisingly all together.

What a coincidence, right?

“Right! We all arrived at the same time in front of your house, so funny isn’t it?” Sungyeol laughed loudly and faked the most exaggerated surprised expression ever.

He got loud agreements from his partners-in-crime Woohyun, Daehyun and Youngjae whose claps and cheers echoed through the entrance hall. To Seungyoon’s surprise, Mirae who stood behind them, grinned with a slightly guilty expression as well.

It was the first time for Seungyoon to experience a movie night with his group of friends. Compared to his movie nights with Sora, Seungyoon could spot many differences. For once, it was definitely louder and livelier with eight people hogged in front of a flat screen with a table filled with caries-inducing snacks in front of them. More sassy comments, more laughter, more fun.

However, Seungyoon could spot a certain different trait of Sora when dinner time came around. When they ate over at his place, they would always order something simple like pizza, their absolute favorite dish, for which she always insisted on paying.

But here, at her home, she suddenly dished up one plate after another. One more expensive and exquisite than the other.

Seungyoon was quite shocked for a moment, he certainly didn’t expect to be served a 5-course-like meal at a ‘simple’ movie night with friends.

Seungyoon looked around and saw only happy and excited expressions.

They aren’t surprised at all. It wasn’t the first time that Sora was giving them such nice food. She’s really generous…

Kang Seungyoon, you forgot that she’s filthy rich.

Oh yeah...

How everyone managed to leave not a single piece of leftover of the dinner was a mystery to Seungyoon. The only thing he knew was that he was filled to the brim with a content smile on his lips when the ending credits of the movie started.

One by one during the movie which at one point everyone had already watched beforehead, the friends had left each other. Youngjae and Daehyun were the first to go as they had to catch the bus for their late night dance lesson. Woohyun and Sungyeol were picked up by the former’s mother. Mirae’s father came last and this left only Seungyoon and Taehyun at Sora’s place.

Sora smiled at the two remaining guests in front of her. She didn’t seem to mind it at all that the two of them didn’t show any signs of leaving anytime soon.

“Seems like there are some people who are low-key waiting for an invitation to stay the night here.” She gave them a smug expression.

“Ohhh, my baby knows how I feel by heart already!” Taehyun cooed and slung his arm around her while whisking her outside the living room.

Sora only gave a tired laugh as she let herself being led towards the stairs.

Seungyoon followed awkwardly behind the couple. 

She casually lets them stay overnight? Why does it seem like it’s not Taehyun’s first time staying overnight here? Isn’t he acting a little bit too over-friendly with her now that the others are gone?

And more importantly he knows the way to her bedroom?!

Seungyoon noticed that it was definitely not Taehyun’s first time in her house. The way he moved around with that certain familiarity, Seungyoon couldn’t help but to feel a tiny bit jealous.

Well, he was here once as well, wasn’t he? So it isn’t such big deal, right?

As the small group made their way towards the room at the end of the hallway, Seungyoon caught sight of a painting which he remembered to have spotted during his last visit.

Now that he was passing in front of it, he was able to grasp the motive of the painting.

Seungyoon wasn’t a fan of art paintings and he certainly wasn’t going to become one but even so he was sure that that painting right in front of him wasn’t supposed to hang there.

In fact, he was quite sure that the blue tableau with the many extraordinary waves was supposed to be exhibited in a museum far, far away from where he is now.

What the…?

It’s a fake… That’s the only explanation available, right?

There is no way that Van Gogh’s Starry Night was hung at this very wall,  in this very hallway, in this very house of this very friend.

But somehow it is really unlike Sora to have a fake painting hanging around her house, right? But it’s impossible for the original one to be here, so snap out of it Seungyoon!

When he casted his first glance in Sora’s bedroom, he froze at the doorway.

Wow… This is unexpected…

Dozens of different stuffed animals were placed on the rose bedding, the walls were painted in baby pink and